Don't Let The Candles Go Out
by Kerioke
Summary: It's Halloween and Sarah is talked into going to a party with her roommate, but things begin to turn rather strange. Then the Goblin Kings turns up in her home and she finds out she is the target of a Spirit after accidentally opening a portal that was better left closed.


Don't Let the Candles Go Out

A Halloween Tale:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **8PM** XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarah groaned as she waited for her roommate to finish getting ready to head out to the Halloween party at the frat house back on campus. It really wasn't her scene, but Sam had insisted to the point that if she didn't agree to go she was pretty sure Sam would find some horrible way to torment her for the rest of the semester. Sam was one of the most popular girls who were not a part of the sororities. Sarah had rented this house two years ago and had put out flyers for a roommate. That's how she and Sam had met.

Finally, the door to the other room opened and Sam stepped out into the living room. Sarah almost rolled her eyes at the other girl's costume, the bubbly blonde wore a scandalously short black dress with a white waist apron, fishnet stockings and a little maid headband in her hair. Upon her feet were the most ridiculously high black stilettos. She would never understand why Sam felt the need to wear impractical shoes everyday of the week.

"Sam, your feet are going to be in so much pain in half an hour."

"Don't be such a prude, Sarah, it's always fashion before comfort."

"Whatever you say, just don't come crying to me when you can't take the pain of your toes cramping and your heels feeling like they are about to crack beneath you."

"I doubt I will be doing much walking, Sarah, Eric will probably want me all to himself tonight." The blonde giggled knowingly. "You really should have found a date to join you tonight, almost everyone will have dates with them. In fact, in the two years I've known you, I don't think you have ever had a boyfriend."

"That would be because I haven't had one. I have no desire to have a hormonal boy hanging all over me tonight."

"Like I said, prude." Sam rolled her eyes at the brunette.

"If you are just going to insult me the whole time I would rather just stay home and hand out candy to the kids. These kinds of parties are not really my thing anyways, I'm only going because you wouldn't quit pestering me. And I don't need you telling the whole campus any of my business either."

"Fine, fine my apologies." Sam said with a roll of her blue eyes. "Come on, let us get going or we will be late."

The two young women grabbed their coats and headed out the door. Pausing and returning to the door Sarah dug through her purse till she found what she was looking for. She leaned down and lit their jack-o-lantern with her lighter. Sam grabbed her arm and pulled her along with a grumble at her roommates weird habits when it came to this holiday. Sarah had never been able to explain her behavior either.

They walked down the dark street, laughing at the costumes the young children were wearing as they flooded the neighborhood, and laughing at the adults who prowled the streets. They were joined by one of their classmate, Jenna, who was dressed up as a playboy bunny. Jenna eyeballed Sarah's costume but did not say anything aloud, she didn't need to, Sarah knew exactly what she was thinking.

It wasn't long before they came to the frat house, there were hundreds of students milling about inside and out. Sarah couldn't believe this many people could fit in one house, it was almost like the whole school populace was squished in this one building. They walked up the short set of stairs to the front door where one of the house's residents was dressed up in a red devil costume.

"Hey Parker, have you been watching Scream Queens again?" Sam said as she walked past.

The boy didn't respond just watched them enter the house, stiffly turning his body to follow their path. Sarah thought this odd for Parker, he never passed up a chance to talk to Sam or Jenna. Her eyes turned back to him and quickly returned her gaze forward upon seeing him still watching them. She whispered her concern over the boy's behavior to Sam, but she just laughed and told Sarah she was just being paranoid, Parker was just getting into character. This didn't really make her feel better, but she could not deny it did make some sort of sense.

The girls grabbed a red plastic cup of beer from the kitchen before taking in the rest of the house. There were people everywhere doing just about everything. The music was incredibly loud, the white lights had been replaced with black lights throughout most of the house. There were a few couples dancing in the main room, while others made-out along the hallway.

Jenna was the first to abandon the group when she caught sight of the quarterback, Rich, they had just started going out earlier that week. Sam was the next to go as Eric came around the corner and pulled her up the stairs to one of the bedrooms. Finding herself alone Sarah wandered back to the living room where she had seen some of her classmates lounging. Once she got there though she realized many of them were intoxicated to the point they couldn't hold a conversation longer than a couple of minutes. It was not long before she gave up this endeavor and wound her way back to the kitchen to dump her cup. She was not much into drinking, she only drank a little, just enough to make these events at the very least tolerable. Emptying the contents into the sink before placing the cup in to the bin she decided to search the house some more and see who all had shown up.

The music thumped through the house to a heavy metal beat that she didn't really care to hear. The intensity of it just gave her a headache, and she did her best to avoid being in places where it was playing. Feeling a rather painful one coming on she decided it was time to look for Sam and let her know she was going to head home. Heading up the stairs she began knocking on doors, but the music was so loud she could not hear any response so was forced to open the doors.

Most of the rooms were empty, though, a few were occupied. The third one she opened had a few guys who were getting high, she shook her head at them. She never could wrap her head around what was so cool about getting baked. However, as she opened the second to last she found Sam and Eric in the throes of passion, and for some reason she found herself glued to the spot. She couldn't help herself, she watched as Sam arched her back to a point Sarah thought the girl would break in half. It was Sam's scream of ecstasy that broke her out of her daze. Quickly shutting the door she squeezed her eyes shut trying to force the image she had just seen from her brain. It seemed she would have to just leave without notifying her. Jenna had disappeared long ago and she wasn't going to waste time looking for the girl. They were not particularly close anyhow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **9PM** XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As she went back downstairs she began to notice the strange lack of people in the house where moments ago it had been full of drunken classmates. Where had everybody run off to, and how did they all leave so quickly? She made for the front door, but ran into Parker in his red devil get up in the living room. Apologizing she pushed away from him as he grasped at her arms. It was really unnerving when he was in this costume. Grasping the doorknob she quickly ran down the front steps without looking back. She simply had to get away from this mad house.

The cool October air made her bare arms prickle so she began to rub her hands against her skin in a small effort to warm herself up as she made the trek back to their house. The street was not overly crowded, but it was mostly young kids now. There was a group of preteens that were singing as they travelled through the neighborhood.

 _'Boys and girls of every age_

 _Wouldn't you like to see something strange?_

 _Come with us and you will see,_

 _This our town of Halloween._

 _This is Halloween, this is Halloween,_

 _Pumpkins scream in the dead of night._

 _This is Halloween,_

 _Everybody make a scene._

 _Trick or Treat_

 _'Til the neighbors gonna die of fright!_

 _It's our town!_

 _Everybody scream_

 _In this town of Halloween.'_

She smiled at their antics and continued on. She remembered doing something similar with her friends when she had been their age.

The street grew darker the further from the frat house she got. The air became more ominous, but under that she could hear the sounds of soft footprints coming from behind her. They made a chill run up her spine, she tried to tell herself that it was probably just another trick-or-treater, or party goer heading home as well. But the footsteps were too steady, too calculated. Thinking maybe it was Parker trying to get under her skin she turned, but there was no one there, and now only the faint sounds of the kids singing 'This is Halloween' filtered through the air. Her eyes scanned the trees lining the street to see if the person had hidden in the shadows of one, nothing. She turned back to her original path only to run into someone.

Looking up she gave a terrified shriek at the ghostface looking back at her. As she stumbled back trying to put some space between her and the masked person they reached out and grabbed her arms. She struggled in the person's grip, but they held firm. Panic began to try and take hold of her thoughts.

"Sarah, Sarah! It's alright, it's just a costume." The person said as they pulled the mask from their face. "See."

"Brian?" She stopped struggling and saw one of her friends beneath the mask.

"The one and only. Are you alright?"

"You just startled me. I heard footsteps behind me, but no one's there. I thought it may be Parker in that hideous red devil costume trying to scare me, then, I turned around and you were suddenly there. Just took me by surprise, I swear."

"Ok. Hey, I'm headed over to the party, do you want to join me?"

"No thanks, I've already been, the music was giving me a headache so I decided to just head back to the house. Wasn't really my scene anyways."

"Alright then, well, be careful going home. Don't let the big bad wolf get you."

"Ha ha, bye, Brian." She waved at the boy and continued on her way.

For a while there was no other sound but the wind, she began to relax again. This moment of relief was short lived as the sound of carnival music played softly from one of the houses. This was not the cheerful sounds that made her think of ferris wheels and cotton candy, no this made her back stiffen in fear and think of every bad horror movie she'd ever watched. Ultimately, it was the maniacal laughing that put her back on edge. Looking around she saw someone dressed as Pennywise the Clown standing in front of one of the houses, they were the source of the crazy laughing. She began to walk faster, logically she knew it was just another college kid trying to get his kicks by scaring anyone who passed by, but she never liked the clowns, and this one had to be the creepiest she'd ever seen. The clown only laughed harder and louder at her quick retreat.

"What is wrong with people tonight? Is everyone out to scare the living daylights out me or something?"

It was then that she saw a little kid dressed in an orange pajamas with a tattered burlap sack tied around his head. The eyes were made out of buttons sewn into the burlap and there was stitching going up and across, much like a scarecrow would. His hands were hanging down by his sides, but in one he held a half eaten pumpkin designed lollipop, and in the other a dirty burlap sack, that had some rather peculiar stains, she assumed was for his candy. He just kept watching her, and for some reason he rattled her nerves more than Parker, Brian, or the Pennywise guy combined. Something about this kid didn't feel right, like there was something inhuman about him.

"What are you looking at kid?!" She snapped.

She got no response, not even a twitch of his head. Seeing the corner for her street coming up she glanced back at the weird little kid one more time, he was still watching her, but had not moved from the spot she had seen him in. Turning the corner she began to jog towards her house. She could see her front porch coming into view, the jack-o-lantern dimly lighting up the small doorway.

"Thank god." She breathed.

' _Sarah...'_

She stopped dead in her tracks. Nothing around her moved, not even the wind. Her eyes scanned the street as she turned in a circle. She knew she heard someone say her name, but there was no one around her, or at least not that she could see.

"Who's there?"

 _ **Silence**_

"Whoever you are, you should know that I am armed!"

 _ **Silence**_

"Seriously, this isn't funny." She twirled in another circle trying to find whoever was hiding. "Brian is that you?"

 _'Sarah...'_

"Stop it, Brian, you're freaking me out!"

Her knees were wobbling in her fright, and as if sensing the fear radiating from her, a low menacing growl came from her left. Eyes snapping over to the sound she saw an enormous St. Bernard hunched down in one of the lawns. Stumbling into a run, she took off on the last stretch to her and Sam's house. What the hell was wrong with this neighborhood tonight? What would be next, Freddy Krueger and his blade covered fingers? She fumbled with her keys momentarily until she finally got the little silver piece of metal to go in the slot. Turning the lock she quickly opened the door and entered the house. Slamming the door behind her, she leaned against the wooden barrier.

Her eyes shut in relief and a sigh escaped her pale lips as she slid down to the floor. It didn't make any sense, she loved Halloween, it was her favorite holiday of the year. But this year was different, never had Halloween been so terrifying to her. She had only ever felt the slightest bit like this way six years ago when _He_ had burst into Toby's room by way of the window. Shaking her head she got up from the floor and walked to her bedroom. It was still early, they may still get trick-or-treaters, so she didn't want to get out of her costume.

She sat down at her desk and laid her head down on her arms. A small fraction of the pressure her headache was causing lifted when all the light was blocked from her eyes. The familiar quiet of her bedroom was a welcome relief to the pounding music of the frat house, or the screaming of the kids in the street. Not to mention all the weirdoes out there in their disturbing costumes that were meant to torment the people walking by. She had just about all her nerves could take and just needed a minute to collect herself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **11PM** XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She must have dozed off without realizing it because when she raised her head back up it was eleven. Trying to think of what had drawn her attention back to consciousness, but she couldn't place what had awoken her. Looking around the room, she didn't notice anything out of place. Standing from the desk she stretched her back until she got several satisfying pops out of the joints. That's when she heard the opening and closing of the doggie door for the dog they did not have, her body froze. Keeping as still as possible, she listened for movement in the other room, but her ears were only met with silence. She grabbed the curtain rod she still hadn't got put up. She wielded the rod like a baseball bat and quietly crept into the main living area.

The room was empty as far as she could tell, and there were no alien sounds that didn't belong to the house. She crept over to the tiny kitchen and peeked around the corner, empty. As she lowered her makeshift weapon there came a loud knock on the front door making her jump. Almost laughing at herself and how paranoid she was being, she went and opened the door. There was a small group of kids before her holding out the choice of candy holders.

"Trick or Treat!"

"Well, don't you all look so cute." She said as she grabbed the candy bowl from the entry table. "What is everyone supposed to be?"

"I'm a fairy." The little blonde girl said as candy was put in her pumpkin. The girl was practically bouncing on her toes causing Sarah to smile at her.

"I'm a dwarf." The shorter, chunky boy beside the girl said as he puffed up his chest in pride. Sarah flashed him a smile too as she put candy in his bag.

"And what about you?" She asked as she bent down towards the smallest child.

"I'm a goblin!" The youngest practically shouted. Sarah's smile almost faltered, but she managed to keep it until they turned away.

She watched the kids move on to the next house before shutting the door. She didn't know why she had gotten so bothered when she heard the word goblin, she hadn't seen anyone from the Underground since that night. Even the friends she had made no longer came, but she had only called for them once since the party in her room. If he had been after revenge for her beating him then she thought he would have done something long ago. There would be no sense in it now. Besides, she had claimed he had no power over her anymore, what could he do? She leaned her forehead against the door and banged it a couple of times while mumbling 'idiot' over and over. Clearly she was more exhausted than she had thought, imagining that _He_ was trying to mess with her all these years later.

There was another knock on her door, taking a deep breath she pulled herself together before opening the door once more. There was no one there, frowning at the thought of kids playing 'ding dong ditch' on a night like this. That's when she noticed her porch was too dark, looking down she saw the candle in her jack-o-lantern had gone out. Mumbling about stupid kids blowing the candles out, she walked over to the entry table and dug in its drawers for the matches and a fresh candle. That's when she heard the sound of the doggie door again. She quickly grabbed her weapon wielding it in front of her as she quietly closed the front door behind her before slowly making her way to the back door.

Looking down the hallway she didn't see anything, but then the sound of soft footsteps resounding in the room she had just left had her turning around. It was the creepy little kid in the burlap mask. How did he get inside, he was too big to fit in the doggie door? She held up her curtain rod as if to warn him off as he started making his way towards her. Normally, she wouldn't be this paranoid about some kid, but she couldn't figure out how this one got in her home.

"Get away, I mean it!" He kept coming at her slowly. "I'm not playing with you, kid. I'm going to call the cops if you don't get out of here, right now."

She felt a hand grab her shoulder from behind. She swung around with all her might, her rod aimed for the person's head. Her attack was interrupted mid swing by a gloved hand, her eyes widening as they followed the arm up to the intruders face. It was Him, but how? He should not be able to be here before her unless summoned.

"You."

"Hello, Sarah." He smirked down at her. "It's terribly rude to swing such a magnificent weapon at someone who's come to rescue you."

He could have laughed at her disbelieving expression, the question of how him being there before her written plainly in her eyes, but with the appearance of Sam in her house made things a little more complicated. The spirit was the protector of All Hallows Eve, and if you didn't play by his rules then he was liable to turn on you. He would have to persuade the childlike being to leave Sarah to him, but unsure of what she had done to upset him did nothing to help work out this situation. Looking at her once more he saw her eyes dancing between him and the smaller figure, she couldn't decide who was the bigger threat to her.

"If I let this go are you going to try and hit me again?" He nodded his head towards the curtain rod still held motionless in midair between them.

"That depends, why are you here? And why is he here?"

He smirked at her, she always was clever. Her ability to perceive the link between he and Sam was astounding. He pulled the rod from her grasp rather than trusting she wouldn't use it against him again. This motion seemed to encourage little Sam into action, he ran towards Sarah, who in turn gave a screech as she saw the spirit launch itself at her.

The Goblin King grabbed her by the waist and swung her behind himself effectively blocking her from Sam, for the moment anyway. The spirit didn't seem to like this too much, a deep guttural sound, much like a growl coming from beneath the confines of his mask. He could see the sharp jagged edges of the weaponized lollipop, dangling in Sam's hand. So he was planning on taking the Champion's life. Again he wondered what she had done to ear Sam's wrath. He kept a pretty close eye on her, keeping up with the goings on in her life, but there were times that she was blocked from him. Something must have happened during one of these instances.

"Sam, old friend, leave this girl be."

The spirit did not back off. He simply attempted to go around the fae, but his obstacle moved in the way again. He vanished from sight instead. The Goblin King's eyes narrowed in suspicion, a feeling that was justified when Sarah gave a terrified shriek from behind him. Turning he saw that Sam had Sarah cornered and held out his weapon in way of threat. He twisted his wrist, sending a powerful spell at Sam sending him back to his world in between the Underground and Aboveground.

Sarah, feeling overwhelmed by everything that had happened over the course of the night, promptly fainted. The Goblin King caught her just before her head would have made impact with the hardwood floors. As he was lifting her into his arms the front door opened revealing Sarah's giggling roommate and her boyfriend. The girl's eyes seemed to find him standing in her hallway, Sarah now held bridal style in his arms. He could see her trying to calculate how to respond to what she was witnessing. Was he friend or someone trying to hurt her friend?

"Who are you, and how do you know Sarah?" She entered the house completely, followed closely by the boy. "What happened to her?"

"My name is Jareth, I'm an old...friend of Sarah's. She passed out suddenly..."

The girl rushed over to her roomie, but refrained from touching her. Something about the girl's expression and inability to touch the unconscious girl told him that she was somehow responsible for Sarah's state.

"It was only a bit of fun..." The girl whispered almost to herself.

His eyes narrowed. "Where is her room so I can lay her down?"

She opened the door down the left side of the hall. Stepping aside she let him enter the room, and watched him lay the brunette carefully on the bed. She wasn't completely sure she should trust this man, but the way he handled Sarah was almost reverent. It was clear he cared about her roommate's well being. She didn't know what else she could do to help so she remained in the doorway fidgeting nervously. This did not go unnoticed by him though.

"What did you and your friends do to her?"

"It was only meant as a harmless prank, see she next to never comes out with us. She's always holed up here studying or working on one of her designing projects...so when I got her to come with us tonight we had one of the frat guys slip something in her drink while she wasn't looking." She wrung her hands harder and bit her lip. "It was only supposed to get her high, to loosen her up so she could have actual fun for once."

"What was she given exactly?"

"I don't know. None of the boys would hurt her, I would have kept an eye on her to ensure that, but Eric pulled me away. Later, when I went looking for her in the frat house I ran into our friend Brian. He said she was acting real paranoid when he ran into her on the street outside as she was heading back here. He said that she claimed she just had a headache, but she had completely freaked out when she ran into him in his Halloween costume."

He was furious, kids these days were so immature and frankly, stupid. Did this girl not realize that even the people you trust completely were just as capable of hurting you as a stranger? Apparently not as she allowed herself to be pulled away by some mere mortal boy. He had to bite back the words that were threatening to come out to tell this blonde girl just that. He wanted her gone from his sight, if she stayed he would not be able to keep his temper in check or the disgust out of his voice.

"Go on with your gentlemen friend out there, I will keep an eye on Sarah until she wakes."

The blonde did not hesitate and took her leave quickly, shutting the door as she left. He could hear her talking to her boyfriend about what had happened back in the main room. There was some argument about what was put in Sarah's drink, but they had lowered their voices too much for him to catch the end of the conversation. It was not long before the door to the other bedroom could be heard opening and closing behind its occupants, their conversation completely taking to whispers and were no longer heard from his place in Sarah's bedroom.

Pulling the chair from her desk closer to the side of the bed, he took his seat. It was going to be a long night, the spell to send Sam back to the spirit world had drained him too much to conjure any magic. He was quite literally stuck in Sarah's world until he could summon enough magic to transport back to the Underground. However, this worked to his advantage, Sarah would have to deal with him longer than he knew she would want to. She was not going to get rid of him so easily, not that she would have anyways.

Pulling his eyes from her sleeping form, he allowed them to roam her meager room. Taking in the strategically placed pictures of her younger brother either by himself or them both smiling into the lens. Each picture showing the changes of the boy and his sister throughout the years that had passed. There was a slim bookshelf next to her desk and he could tell she had brought her most treasured books with her from her parents home. The rest of the shelves were filled with textbooks and sketchpads. Reaching up he took one of the sketchbooks from its place on the shelf. It's spine nearly falling apart from constant opening and closing, and being overstuffed with loose sheets. Opening it he scanned through the charcoal images most were a few years old, and depicted landscapes. Portraits followed the landscapes, and he was impressed by the skill displayed, she was a rather good artist. Putting that sketchbook back in its place he pulled another down, seeing the images change to architecture, then to interior designs. However, by the fifth sketchpad his brows were knitted together. Her drawings had taken on dark nightmarish creatures. He may have found the reason Sam attacked her...but how had she managed to find _**them**_?

 **XXXXXXXA FEW HOURS LATERXXXXXXXX**

Sarah groaned in pain as she sat up from the pillow, her head was pounding furiously and her muscles were stiff and sore. Blinking at the comforter thrown over her, she tried to remember what had happened. How did she get in her bed? The last thing she remembered was that creepy kid and the Goblin King in her hallway, then, nothing. Maybe it was just a stress induced dream, that made sense since she'd been pouring over her schoolwork without much of a pause lately. Unfortunately, this theory was instantly put to rest by the sound of rustling papers. Turning to her desk she saw him.

"Little Red Riding Hood is awake I see." He didn't turn to her. "Or would it be the lovely Goldilocks?"

"Red Riding Hood." She said curtly, her arms crossing over her chest defensively.

"You have rather poor skill in choosing friends in your world. That coward Higgle is a better friend than that silly girl down the hall."

"And what gives you the right to judge Sam, you know nothing about her. And if you're going to refer to the friends I made during my time in your labyrinth, then get their names right. It's Hoggle if you can't remember."

"Well, it is good to know your wits have completely returned. But, you should know these so called friends of yours drugged you last night with what exactly I do not know, your roommate seems to think everyone is as trustworthy as they seem. Apparently you are rather uptight, and do not like to leave the confines of this house for a bit of fun, that was her excuse for their actions."

"They wouldn't dare..."

"Sarah, how much of the fae do you understand? Because if you are well versed in our lore, then, you would know that the fae cannot lie, twist the truth, but never lie. Your _friend_ told me herself when she arrived home earlier and saw you unconscious."

Sarah looked at the clock and seeing that it read three in the morning she frowned. Sam would probably be dead asleep by now, she would just ask her in the morning. Looking back at the man sitting at her desk like he very much owned the place she found him staring at her intensely. It made her feel like a specimen under a microscope in her microbiology class. It seemed to her that he was looking for some answer in her to an unknown question.

"Do I have something on my face? Because if not it is very rude to just stare at someone."

"My apologies for making you uncomfortable." He watched her eyes narrow at him. "There is one thing that I am curious about though, and I want you to be completely honest with me."

"Why I turned you down? How a mere mortal beat your labyrinth?"

"Not quite." His tone was dry. "I am wondering how you came across these?"

He held up the sketches he'd found earlier of the strange creatures. Her back stiffened at the images, and all color drained from her face. Fear is what he felt coming off of her; she had not meant to find these creatures, and clearly had seen the evil they could cause. He had to know where the gateway was and how it was opened. They must not be allowed to get out into the world where they could roam freely in the shadows.

"Where did you see them, Sarah, your life may very well hang in the balance right now."

"In the storm bunker of an old house where I'm an intern designer. I was rummaging through some old boxes, and found a grate hidden behind one of the piles. There was something about it that drew me to it, and thinking about it now I couldn't explain why. Before I knew what I was doing, I had unscrewed the bolts and opened it. That was when the whispers started, I couldn't always make out what they were saying. No one else could hear them, they all thought my ears must just be ringing from all the construction going on in the house. Then, over the following couple of days I started to see them, thought I was going crazy since none of the other employees seemed to take any notice of them. So I asked the lead designer for a few days off to clear my head." She fidgeted with the edges of the comforter debating on how to proceed. "While I was gone, that was when the first accident happened. One of the maintenance guys fell down the bunker stairs, he swore he felt someone grab his ankle, but when he looked around the area there was not a soul in sight. Since then, two people have died, and a couple of people were hospitalized for going crazy, they kept swearing there were tiny creatures in the house attacking them."

"Do you know what you've unleashed?"

"No, I've never seen the likes of these creatures before. I see them everywhere now, even when they are not really there, and sometimes I swear I can hear them calling to me, telling me to return to the bunker. It's like they want something from me."

"They are an abomination race, a cross between a sprite and wendigo. One race neither good or evil, the other a flesh eater in humanoid form. They were created by one of the Underground's past kings, Balor, during a war with a rivaling faction of fae. They live off of human flesh and bone, but they truly crave young children or pretty girls." He watched her eyes widen at his implication. "You will need to show me where this house is so I can close the opening."

"It's three-fifteen in the morning, Goblin King! I'm not going anywhere near that house at this time!"

"I didn't mean right this second, Sarah, I wouldn't be able to close the gateway at the moment anyways. When I sent Sam back to the spirit world I drained any energy I had to do any proper magic."

"What do you mean you sent Sam to the spirit world? How am I supposed to explain her disappearance?"

"Sarah, I am referring to the spirit of All Hallows Eve, he appeared before you earlier this evening. You may know him better as Samhain." Understanding flashed across her face. "I am assuming that you opening the gateway for those creatures is the reason you were targeted by him. He is neither good or evil, but do the wrong thing and he will come after you when he is allowed to travel between realms. Most of the beings in his world are willing to let the deeds of the other realms to do as they please with little to no consequence at their hands, but little Sam is different, always has been."

"But I didn't know what was living in that house!"

"He doesn't care. That gate should never have been opened." He tapped a finger to his chin thoughtfully. "If the gateway is closed he should leave you be."

"And if that doesn't work, what am I supposed to do then?"

He smirked, standing from the chair, he crossed over the short space between them until he towered over her. Leaning down he caressed her cheek with a gloved hand making a shiver run down her spine as if he had threatened her. His face was only mere inches away from her own, but when his eyes met hers she knew where his answer would lie.

"Well, if that doesn't work, there is always the labyrinth. Myself and my kingdom could protect you, forever." The words came out so softly they were almost whispered. "While he can travel between the three realms, I hold more authority than he does in the Underground, there is no one here in this one that can challenge him anymore."

"Then, I hope sealing the gate works."

A frown marred his otherwise perfect features as the words tumbled from her lips. However, as he straightened back up his usual smirk once more graced his mouth. That probably was what made her feel uneasy with him all of a sudden, even more so than before. He was planning something, she just didn't know what.

"Get some sleep, Sarah, we will need to go to that house as soon as my magic is back at full strength."

He walked out of the room without a response from her, shutting the door behind him. She listened to the thumps of his boots on the floors outside her room leading towards the main room. Her mind now racing trying to go over everything that had just been said. The morning would prove to be very interesting indeed.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Sarah, it is time to leave."

"You know, it is not very gentleman-like to wake a lady up..."

"I was not aware I was in the presence of a Lady."

A pillow flew by his head with a soft _swoosh_ before connecting with the wall. Eyeing the discarded pillow now laying harmlessly on the floor then back to the bed where the brunette was pulling the thick comforter over head as if to protect herself. It was sudden and unexpected, he began to laugh.

His laughter ultimately was what brought her to full awareness. She felt like she'd been hit by a truck. Her limbs were still sore and she had hardly been able to sleep, she had kept tossing and turning wondering what he had been doing in the other room. Sitting up she glared at the amused Goblin King, this apparently furthered his entertainment as his smirk grew. She swung her legs off the bed, noticing his eyes travelling over her now exposed legs; she had changed out of her costume into some sleeping shorts and a T-shirt after he had left her room.

"Do you mind waiting outside so I can get dressed."

"I suppose I could do that."

She could hear the disappointment in his voice and allowed herself some small satisfaction in that regard. When the door to her room was closed again she crossed over to her small closet and pulled out a light sweater, jeans and a pair of boots. After changing she quietly went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and throw her long hair up in a messy bun. Looking up into the mirror at her reflection she shook her head and sighed. What she had not told him last night was that the police had put a blockade up around the house while their investigation continued, they wanted an explanation for all the 'accidents' and deaths that had been going on. According to them too much had happened to be coincidental. No one was allowed on the sight unless they were being escorted by an officer, not that anyone wanted to go to the house. She exited the bathroom and made her way to the main room.

Sam poked her head out of her room as she heard Sarah walking by, she softly caught the other girl's attention. Sarah turned and looked at her curiously, also slightly surprised that the blonde was even awake at such an early hour after her evening festivities. Sam squeezed out of the thin opening she had created in her doorway and partially closed the door back so she could talk to Sarah without disturbing Eric.

"How are you feeling this morning, Sarah? We saw Brian at the party last night and he said you went home cause you were not feeling well?"

"I am better, my head still hurts...we will have to discuss this when I return later on, there is something I need to go do right now."

"Who is the handsome guy you had over here last night? Thought you weren't into guys hanging all over you?" The blonde said as she wagged her eyebrows suggestively.

"I don't, it's not like that...and he is just an acquaintance I met back in high school. He helped me out last night since I was alone...again we will have to discuss this later."

"Alright, alright we will talk later on...but just for the record, I do not believe that there is nothing going on between you and that man."

Sarah rolled her eyes and turned back in the direction of the main room where Jareth awaited her. Upon entering the room she saw him scanning over Sam's movie collection curiously. She cleared her throat to get his attention, though she was fairly certain it was pointless, he was sure to have known the second she came in the room.

"We are going to have to walk the last mile to this place there is a blockade around the house, so we can't be seen entering the area. Could you magic us there from here?"

"It would be best not to waste any unnecessary magic, so we will have to walk I suppose."

"Ok, well, I can drive us most of the way, my car is just a couple of blocks away. Parking near the campus is atrocious. So come on before my roommate decides she wants to interrogate you."

They left the house without another word, Sarah didn't trust the party girl not to come investigate what was going on in their living room, the walls in the house were very thin. She was far too nosey for her own good, and honestly Sarah didn't have a good explanation for the fae's appearance.

They walked in silence for a while, her eyes scanning the street as she thought back on everything she saw the night before. To her right she saw the giant St. Bernard, he was playing catch with his little six year old companion. The giant dog did not look so terrifying anymore, instead his tongue hung out the side of his mouth as he hunched down on his front paws, his tail wagging furiously in the air as he waited for the little boy to throw the ball. When the ball flew over its head the dog would turn and bound after it happily before returning and starting the process all over again. She shook her head, not understanding how such a sweet creature could have terrified her so badly the night before. Maybe what the King had said was truth after all, maybe her friends weren't all she thought they were.

Jareth watched her take in the houses on each side of the road, and saw her shake her head in disbelief at herself when they passed a child and dog playing out in their front yard. What had she seen when she was under the influence of whatever substance those kids had given her?

She tried to think up something to say to break this uncomfortable silence, but currently nothing was coming to mind. That's when she saw it...a demented, lifeless clown animatronic at the gated entrance to one of the houses they were passing. She bet if she were to go over to the yard she would find a plug that was no longer switched on that allowed the clown to appear alive. What the hell had she been given that had altered her mind to the point she saw something more horrifying than a electronic clown made of steel, plastic and cloth? She even bet the people had a CD player somewhere that had been playing creepy music the whole night.

"I suppose I owe you an apology for thinking you were lying about my friends drugging me." She looked over at him. He arched an eyebrow at her curiously. "Walking along this path once more, I'm seeing that I must have been really out of it to see things so differently then compared to what I can clearly see now. That clown thing over there for instance...last night I vaguely remember it looking like this movie clown from one horror film that got produced based off of a popular Stephen King book called 'It'. In the movie this clown haunted this group of kids driving them crazy and trying to kill them. That movie scared the hell out of me as a kid."

"I see, well, apology accepted. What all did you see last night?"

"What did I see? I guess it would be best to start from the beginning when we arrived at the frat house." She went silent for a minute thinking over the events of the evening before. "When we got there I noticed that one of the guys was acting funny. Sort of just put me off I suppose, but if the drug was given to me there then something really was going on with him, or Sam was right, he was just acting like the character he was dressed up as."

She went on to explain the events within the frat house, leaving out the one part about Sam and Eric. She assumed that the effects of the drug were the reason the house seemed to be so empty, but even to her that didn't make much sense. As she was about to get into the events during her journey home she felt another body collide with hers sending them both crashing to the sidewalk. Blinking the stars from her eyes she saw Brian on the ground next to hers in his running clothes. The Goblin King stood beside them looking more human than the moment before, he must have glamoured himself so Brian wouldn't realize he wasn't not like all the other college kids around here.

"Sarah! I am so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." He said as he helped her back up. "I'm not used to anyone being out this early in the morning on a Sunday."

"I was just showing my friend around the campus neighborhood before we go grab some breakfast." She lied and motioning to the blonde man beside her. "Did you enjoy the party?"

"You were right, it was rather lame, everyone was out back playing drinking games. Cops came by and broke it up pretty early this time." He laughed, then turned to her companion and held out his hand. "Hi, don't think I've met you before."

"I'm Jareth. First time here, just came in to see Sarah for a bit." He replied taking the boys hand in a firm grip.

"Well, it was nice to meet you. I will let you two continue on, I need to get back to my run anyways."

"Bye, Brian." Sarah waved as the boy jogged off. "I ran into him last night too, seems to be our thing. Though, last night I thought he was trying to attack me."

"What did he do, he seems like a nice kid."

"He is actually. He had his costume on and it had a mask from a silly slasher movie. He was just trying to get me to calm down, but that was not what I was registering."

"Are you usually that jumpy with people? Doesn't sound like you, you certainly handled yourself in my labyrinth."

"Personally, I don't think I am, but I was tripping on some kind of drug last night. Everything seemed more frightening than there really are."

She saw her car up ahead, she dug through her pockets and pulled out her keys. She motioned to the old faded green 1967 Honda S800 parked a few cars up from them. He raised an eyebrow at her that clearly said he hoped she was joking about her mode of transportation. Rolling her eyes she walked around to the driver's side and unlocked the door, getting in she reached across the passenger seat and unlocked the other door so he could get in. He continued to just stand there looking at the car like she had lost her mind, to him it looked like a death trap waiting to happen.

"If you do not get in you are going to have to walk the entire way to this place, and you have no idea where it is...can you really afford that kind of delay? Get in." She said as she tapped her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. "I know she looks a little beat up, but she is a stable car, has not died on me yet."

He got in reluctantly, and she pulled out of the parking space. As they drove she finished retelling what happened the night before up until the point he had shown up in her hallway. He didn't make much comment about what she told him, for the most part he simply remained silent. But as the trees began to grow thicker she stopped wondering what was going on in his brain and began looking for the park that was near the house. After a few minutes the entrance came into view and she slowed the car and pulled in. After parking they got out and she motioned towards a slightly hidden path in the woods.

"We can follow this over to the grounds, it will exit out behind the barricade and we will not be seen from anyone passing by on the road. The drive way to the house is about a mile trek from where this dumps out."

"Well, let's get moving then."

They moved through the brush at a decent pace, her mind going back to their conversation the night before about how these creatures came to be. Looking out the corner of her eye at the fae walking next to her she wondered if he would indulge her curiosity and tell her the whole story.

"Hey, Jareth, you mentioned before that these creatures were made by one of the past King's from your world...what was he like, and why did he think creating these things was the way to go?"

"Balor, was always a paranoid person, it just became more prominent when he ascended the throne. He became known as Balor, the God of Death, by everyone in the Underground and to most that knew of him in your world. He would kill anyone who so much as looked at him the wrong way. One day he learned that the Druids had a prophesy about his downfall, it said that in a great battle he would be slain by his grandson. So, to prevent this he locked away his only daughter, Ethlinn in a tower so no one could ever touch her. However, his rival, Cian found out about Ethlinn's imprisonment. He went in search of her intending for her to be a mere hostage, but when he did manage to find her he was so captivated by her beauty that he began to find himself falling in love with the girl. He romanced her and after a while she returned his affections, they slept together resulting in her bearing his child. Balor found out about the boy and had one of his soldiers take the boy out to the sea and let him drown. But the soldier did not stay and insure that the baby was dead, some druids that were secretly working against Balor rescued the child and helped raise him."

"But where then do these creatures come into play?" She asked, her brow scrunched up in deep thought.

"I was just getting to that." He said with a slightly chastising tone. "After he had the baby taken away he summoned his best sorcerers and told them that he wanted them to make him the perfect soldier race. Something that could turn the tide of his war forever in his favor. And for the next few years they experimented on many different creatures until one day one of them got the idea to breed a new race from two powerful existing races. So they took Wendigo who is one of the most vile creatures living in my world and a Sprite who is neither good or evil, but can still cause some serious mischief when they wanted to. The experiment was their first success, and the King liked what he saw. They were small creatures so they could move about enemy lines without being seen if they so desired, and powerful they could kill and entire army with just a small amount of numbers. However, what the King or his sorcerers did not expect was for the creatures to be completely uncontrollable, they overran the forest and would attack anyone who dared pass by. No one knew how to defeat them, because just walking in the forest they inhabited was a death sentence, no one ever came out and no bodies were ever found. The number of these creatures continued to grow with every death they brought about."

She watched as his eyes travelled to the house emerging down the lane from them, she couldn't tell if it was anger or determination that was raging in his eyes at that moment.

"So how did they manage to stop them?"

"The other nobility of the realm sought help from the spirit world, and it was probably one of the last times they every had anything to do with our world. It was never discovered how to kill them, so they were rounded up and trapped in prisons around the Aboveground. The spirits are the ones who sealed the prisons in which the creatures were contained. It was right after our worlds had been completely separated. Once the creatures were no longer a threat to us, they were forgotten about. It was just assumed that the humans wouldn't mess with the seals, something about the magic of the spirit world usually repels them, except in your case it seems." The last part was said with a slight chuckle.

"Haha it is so bleeding funny. So if you forgot about these creatures, what happened to Balor? I find it hard to believe that he would just give up on his creation if it was his ticket to winning the war."

"The prophesy he so desperately tried to avoid happened, his grandson grew up without his knowledge and when he became of age joined the war along side of Balor's rivals. During the Battle of Mag Tuireadh, Balor slew two of the leaders, but as he began to think he had won he was slain by Lugh. As he lay dying he learned that the young fae standing over him was his own flesh and blood. Lugh assumed the throne in his grandfather's stead and restored the unity in the Underground."

"Well, that worked out for him. Did he end up having a family, or was he overthrown too?"

"He married a young fae duchess and they had a son."

"And what was their son like?"

"That depends on who you ask really, personally, I think that I turned out rather well. But if I were to ask you what I'm like, I'm sure you would have a vastly different opinion."

"You! You are the great-grandson of the king who created these things?"

"Yes, but we don't really discuss my great-grandfather."

They arrived at the house, the mid-morning sun shining through the surrounding trees dappling the grass. She went up the steps to the wraparound porch, jiggling the door knob she found it locked. Walking around to the right she went to one of the windows and pulled up. It came open with slight bit of groaning, she climbed through then motioned for him to follow. She glanced around the large entrance room, everything had been left how it was when everyone was told to leave the premises until after the investigation was closed.

"The keys for the storm bunker are over here."

"You realize I could just magic the lock open, right?"

"I thought we weren't doing any unnecessary magic? Or did you just say that so you could bug me longer than was needed?"

"Unlocking the door is overly simple, not the same as transporting people from one location to the next, or between worlds. But, we'll continue by our previous rule, no unnecessary magic." He smirked. "So where is this 'storm bunker' and why exactly would you need such a thing?"

"A storm bunker is a building typically built into the ground where during extreme weather conditions the people living in the house can go for more secure shelter. They usually store non-perishable food there in the instance they have to stay there for long periods of time." She grabbed the keys off the wall where they had hung all the old house keys. "It's out back, we can go this way."

She led him through the house to the back door, it opened up to a large grassy yard of the most vibrant green. He could sense the creatures living beneath them. He could also hear their whispering voices, they knew someone from their home world was near. They were scared, no longer at their at their full strength or as large in numbers. Reaching the small building, Sarah unlocked the door and they entered.

It was dark within, she walked over to a small shelf off to the right and grabbed two flashlights. Handing one to Jareth, she turned her's on and shut the entrance door. The room was engulfed in total darkness except where their artificial lights beamed, she began to lead him down the narrow staircase to the main area.

 _'The girl is back!'_

 _'She brought a fae with her.'_

 _'We only need the girl.'_

He could hear the whispers and the sound of them scurrying about, they were loose from their prison. He let some of his power flow from himself into the room, he could hear them recoil in alarm. However, Sarah suddenly went tumbling down the stairs with a startled yelp. Her flashlight fell somewhere off to the side of the staircase, it's bulb going out with the impact. He could hear them move towards where he saw her land.

 _'Grab her!'_

 _'He wants her too!'_

 _'We must not let her go!'_

 _'She will help us grow!'_

"You will not touch her you filthy vermin!" He suddenly appeared next to her prone body.

Creating a crystal he made it burst with a bright flash of light. The creatures scrambled away from the light as it burned their skin. While the light held he leaned over the semi-conscious girl, patting her cheek gently to try and get her to focus.

 _'Make it go away!'_

 _'It hurts us.'_

 _'Grab the girl, kill the fae!'_

As the light faded, the creatures surged forward, they grabbed at any sort of item that was lying about that could be used as a weapon and lunged at Jareth. Some of them grabbed for Sarah is was finally coming around, they dragged her towards the grate. Seeing this she twisted onto her stomach and tried to crawl away, however, the tiny creatures were far stronger than they looked. Seeing the flashlight slowly passing her eyesight as she was dragged across the floor she made a grab at it. Gripping the plastic she flicked the on the light, it flashed over where Jareth was fighting off the creatures attacking him, the creatures screeched and moved into the shadows. Jareth used that moment to create another light crystal, one that was stronger that the first.

The creatures that were dragging her continued to pull her along, she kicked her legs as much as she could and successfully dislodged some of them. However, she felt a set of teeth sink into her ankle, she let out a small yelp. She swung the flashlight towards the creature at her foot and smacked it with the plastic light. Another one jumped up and bit her just above her left elbow drawing more blood from her, she swiped at it with her other hand sending it flying away from her. She could see them swarming over the Goblin King tearing at him with whatever weapons they had managed to find, of course they weren't really a match for him but their sheer numbers were the only reason he hadn't blasted them back in their prison. Taking the flashlight she flashed it around the groups of creatures swarming them.

When her light caused the creatures to scatter again to get away from it he sent several crystals flying through the air, for every creature they touched it would absorb the creature within the glass confinements. When each crystal was filled to its capacity it flew to the gateway. He watched her beat at any creature that came close to her, when they last of the creatures had been absorbed he blasted a spell at the gateway to seal it forever.

With a bright flash of blue light the gateway was once more sealed, she continued to stare at the closed up metal bars in astonishment. Whatever she had been expecting when they came down here it was not an actual fight with the little beings. Sure they were not as tough as she imagined they would be, but they was probably because they did not have access to the powers of the Underground, and had been denied sustenance for so long. However, the sting in the bite marks were the only proof she needed know what had just happened. She looked over to the Goblin King, he was no longer interested in his surroundings, instead he stood there assessing the state of his ripped tunic and jacket.

She stood from her place on the ground, she winced at the pain that shot through her ankle where she'd been bitten. He looked over at her as she gained her footing, watching her closely as she observed her own injuries. He appeared before suddenly making her gasp in surprise, he gave her a wicked smirk. With a quick movement he wrapped an arm around her waist and they vanished.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What the hell? You can't just grab someone like that...we're in your castle aren't we?"

"Yes."

"Take me back this instant!"

"No, I don't think I will."

"You bastard, this was your plan all along wasn't it? You were going to kidnap me no matter what happened!"

"That's right, you really should be more careful with your little carved pumpkins and their candles. You never know who or what will be allowed through the portal. I claimed you the second you stepped into my kingdom."

"You have no right!"

"I did not force you to come to this world, you have to make that choice on your own, that's the rule. However, here, I am King and I can do whatever I want here, and I wanted you. So, I marked you as my intended, I knew you still needed to mature more before you were ready to become my queen."

"I will not surrender to you just because you think you can do as you please, my hand will not be forced."

"Then, I hope you know how to handle your transformation those bite wounds are already causing as we speak." He smirked as she glowered at him. "Bites from certain creatures of the Underground transform their victims."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Epilogue:

Sam sat at the police station in tears, she had reported Sarah missing after three days. She had called some of their other friends to see if she had stayed with any of them. When that turned up as a bust she phoned Sarah's family, they had not or heard from her either. So she went to the station to get help from the local police. Now, it was a week since the report had been filed and she was back in the station.

"Miss Varnell, when was the last time you saw Miss Williams?"

"I've already told you people this five times! The last time I saw her was early in the morning on Sunday November first!"

"Please calm down, Miss Varnell, this is standard protocol."

"Well, it sucks, you are wasting time asking me the same questions over and over. Ask me something else, something everyone hasn't already asked me! I want to find my friend!"

"Had you ever met the guy that she left with prior to when you showed up at your house that night?"

"As I've said before, no, but he said that they were old friends so I didn't think too much of it at the time, but the next morning Sarah's said they were only acquaintances. They left the house shortly after I spoke with her, then, I never saw her again." Sam said with a frustrated sigh. "Our friend Brian said he ran into them during his morning job, apparently she told him that she was showing the guy around the campus then they were going to eat."

" I see."

Over the next several months the police continued their investigation, but were unsuccessful in finding any leads that did not lead to another dead end. Finally, they filed the case away with all the other cold cases. Sarah's family bought a plot in the city graveyard next to her grandparents and had a headstone made for her. Her brother would visit it with his parents in the beginning, but as he got older he made the visits once a month on his own.

The End


End file.
